


Requiem for a Queen

by skeletonwrites



Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Almost death, Baby, Childbirth, F/M, Near Death, Near Death Experiences, Pregnancy, rowaelin baby, rowaelin pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-10 02:20:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17417177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skeletonwrites/pseuds/skeletonwrites
Summary: Aelin gives birth to her and Rowan’s first born.





	Requiem for a Queen

The Queen  
The pain was damn near unbearable. Just trying to inhale a deep breath felt like it would kill her, but she had to keep breathing. She was the sole thing sustaining the life of her child, of their first born. Pain like she had never felt ripped through her body, tearing her into pieces. The strong grip she’d had on Rowan’s hand grew weaker every second, her eyes threatening to roll back into her head constant.

Rowan was behind her, her chest to his back, his legs on either side of her and his hands held both of hers. She made an effort to keep her eyes open, to keep gripping his hand, as Lady Yrene Westfall knelt between her legs at the end of the bed, sweat lining her brow. Lysandra was next to Yrene, the two women murmuring things back and forth that Aelin couldn’t get enough of a grip on to hear. The only sounds in her head was the rushing of blood between her ears, and the occasional blur of words that slipped out of Rowan’s lips, though she found it impossible to understand. Unable to grip onto reality, she gripped the bond between her and her husband, her king, her mate, and held on as tightly as she could.

The King  
King Rowan Whitethorn Galathynius had never been so scared in all of his long life. For centuries he had roamed the earth, fought in battles, watched his wife, his mate sacrifice her human body to save the world, and despite all the fear he had felt then, it was nothing compared to the fear that paralyzed his body now. With Aelin between his legs, her hands in his, her face losing more color by the second, he could physically feel his world shifting, pulling away. Through their mating bond, something that he could tug on every so often, that he could sense her pain and terror through, he could feel pieces of her soul leaving this earth. It was hard to do anything but to keep whispering for Aelin to stay with him, don’t leave him.

There was so much blood. Blood staining the white duvet and sheets, blood staining her inner thighs. Blood soaking through the white nightgown that she had been wearing when she woke up screaming in the early hours of morning. Of all the things that Rowan had done to her and for her, she had once said that giving her a child was the best. Rowan couldn’t help but feel now, that it was the worst.

“There’s too much blood,” Yrene’s tone was flat and defeated, and Rowan couldn’t handle it. He couldn’t handle Aelin’s loosening grip on his hands, he couldn’t handle how pale and wan her lips were. The color that she now was, once golden from spending so much time out in the sun over the summer, now she was nearly gray. Sweat coated her skin which was growing cooler by the minute. Rowan felt as though there was hardly any part of her latched onto their bond anymore. White hot tears streaked down his face as he kissed her cheeks, her temple. A loud cry was almost enough to snap him from his reverie, but he couldn’t even look up. Aelin was almost completely limp in his arms, his tears coating her hair, her skin.

“Aelin, my love,” he cradled her to his chest, face buried in his neck. “Please don’t leave me. Don’t leave me.” He repeated the phrase, her name, against her skin over and over as she rocked back and forth. Lysandra was wrapping the baby in a blanket somewhere in the room, but Rowan couldn’t pull himself away from his love. His ears strained to listen to her heart, which seemed to be slowing with every beat. “No, no, no. No, Gods no. Aelin, Aelin come back,” he sputtered out, voice shaky and weak as he brushed his shaking hands soothingly over her hair. “Stay with me.” The hand that wasn’t in her hair was gripping her nightgown so tightly in his fist that he thought it would rip any second, keeping her pressed to his body as tightly as he could.

His fingers fumbled in his pocket and he pulled out a small knife, slicing his palm open, then hers, mashing their hands together, hoping that being her Carranam would be enough to save her, to keep her here. He pulsed his magic into her body, doing anything he could to spark up the healing powers he knew she had to heal her body. Yrene appeared next to him, letting a few drops of a tonic pass into her mouth. Rowan kept pressing his lips everywhere he could reach, as though each kiss would somehow tie her to this earth.

The Queen  
The darkness was cold, uninviting. Then, she had seen her body from above, Rowan rocking her back and forth as he sobbed into her shoulder, begging her to stay. All she could hear was his enchantment, over and over. And when he began coursing his own magic through her body, she felt her soul trying to piece it back together. Warmth began to slowly fill her body again as she felt her healing magic aiding in her survival, felt her being called back to her body.

After what seemed like an eternity, her eyes cracked open slightly, her eyes glancing down at the blood-ruined nightgown – a nightgown she didn’t even like. Somewhere in the room, she could hear Lysandra talking in a low voice to her baby, and she moved her eyes up to meet Rowan’s.

“So,” she said weakly. “Not only did I almost die…but I almost died in this godsforsaken gown.” Rowan, despite himself, laughed, pressing kiss after kiss to her face, her mouth, her ears. After a few moments, Lysandra laid their baby girl in his arms, and Aelin let tears of her own fall as she took in the tiny baby, that already had bright Ashryver eyes and tiny pointed ears. “I love you so much,” she whispered to her family, gripping Rowan as tightly as she could manage.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I’m a LITTLE sorry for this one. It hurt me to write.   
> This was based on a tumblr prompt, someone wanted sick Aelin and oh boy...did she get sick Aelin.  
> Follow me on tumblr! highqueenofelfhame.tumblr.com  
> Send me requests through comments here or to my Tumblr ask! (They won’t all be so painful.)


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